ANN ARBOR -- No one has probably ever taken a victory harder than Taylor Lewan did Saturday afternoon.

Moments after his Wolverines held on for a 28-24 win over Akron -- a triumph he called "embarrassing" -- Michigan's senior All-American tackle was forced to sit in the one place on the planet he wanted no part of at the moment.

The media room.

A furious Lewan fielded questions from reporters, his anger boiling.

What's wrong with the offensive line? Were you disrespecting Akron? Is this a wakeup call?

What were you thinking on that last play?

"Um, that this was embarrassing for the University of Michigan football team," a red-faced Lewan finally replied, now officially steaming. "I'm pretty sure I've said that three times now."

Nine months ago, Lewan stood at a podium a few hundred feet away all smiles. He was turning down millions of dollars to return to Michigan and win a Big Ten championship.

He was full of confidence and completely comfortable with his decision. He came back for a title. He came back for glory.

He did not come back for Saturday.

"We will not come out like this again," Lewan stated bluntly, leaving no room for further explanation.

Michigan has four captains this season, but Saturday, Lewan was its sole spokesperson. He did his best to deflect any and all criticism away from quarterback Devin Gardner, who was sitting two steps to his right.

Instead, he put it on his own shoulders. And vowed to put a stop to whatever crept into Schembechler Hall after the win against Notre Dame more than a week ago.

"Yeah, we won the game, we're 3 and 0," Lewan said. "That's great. It was embarrassing. It was embarrassing. It wasn't Devin's fault.

"It was the leadership of this team."

Hoke himself put the blame for the group not being prepared on his shoulders to the team afterward, as captured on video by MGoBlue.com.

But he also hinted that he, and his staff, would use this as a challenge to the team's core going forward.

"I think those (captains) have taken a lot of pride, and they’ve worked very hard in that part of it," Hoke said. "As a coach sometimes you put a little pressure on your leadership and maybe that’s what he’s responding to.”

Is Lewan putting too much on himself too early here? Was this solely a leadership issue in Michigan's own locker room?